Hello Munchkin here and I am still munching through the edible ornamentals.  This one is Pereskia aculeata also known as Barbados Gooseberry.  In a specific area of Brazil, Minas Gerais, it is known as ora-pro-nobis; here, the plant is cultivated for its edible leaves.  The leafy green is high in vitamins, minerals and amino acids.  Because of its high nutritional value, there has been research into using the dried leaf in bread and sausage making.  I like to put this in our miso soup.

The fruit is round, orange in colour and has the taste and consistency of a gooseberry.  It looks like an orange gooseberry actually!

You can eat them as they are or use them in jams and preserves.  They have a fruity tartness.  Oh, but last but not least, the flowers are really pretty on this cactus:

Anyone interested in buying a plant?  Let me know and I will bag some in the new year.  Cheers!!

This is a beautiful cactus, with spiny stems and fragrant smelling flowers. I propagated it originally from one single seed about two years ago and now it is producing globular, orange fruit which are edible.

The fruit are acidic tasting like gooseberries and I imagine they would be good for jam making or fruit tarts.

I am really, really excited about this plant because I have just found out, on an Internet search that the green leaves can be cooked and eaten.  Apparently, there is a particular place in Brazil where this vegetable is prized and it is called Ora-Pro-Nobis meaning “Pray For Us.”

I can’t wait to try this as a vegetable.  It has been growing crazy and out of control so it will be a good excuse to cut it back.  I will definitely post a blog up about cooking with this new, exotic vegetable.

For those interested, this plant can be grown from seed or cutting and apparently, even from a fallen leaf.